ddarko

Will the W205 still be eligible for European delivery for North American buyers once production for the model starts in Alabama? I know some current models aren't eligible for ED but I think it's because they are assembled exclusively in the US plant; there's no car to pick up in Europe unless Mercedes ship it there then ships it back to the USA, which would make little sense. So what happens when W205 starts production in Alabama but also continues to be assembled in Germany, will ED remain an option or will Mercedes divert all US buyers to the C-Class made in the USA? I think it would be a shame if US buyers of Mercedes' biggest volume model lost the chance to take advantage of the great experience offered by the ED program. Anyone able to shed some light on what will happen?

tommy

I would depend - my guess would be it would not be available for ED. The question is if they will be doing ALL US spec cars in AL. If so, there would be no way that they would be able to do a US spec version in Germany. I've done both the AL and Sindelfingen plant tours, and the German plant is much more interesting (to say nothing about the surroundings!), but a break-in drive from AL through the South to LA wouldn't be awful.

MBNUT1

ED is not available for the US MLs / GLs. Seems awfully unlikely that there would be ED program for US W205s.

Glyn M Ruck

ED makes no sense. It can't happen.

DCubed

Considering they build the W204 in three factories for the US market I would assume that there might be some still produced in Germany as I don't think that they will be able to satisfy the demand for the C class out of one factory by itself.

tommy

Given the CLA most likely cutting the C class off at the knees to some extent, I would be surprised if non-US production would be necessary. MB must think so as well, because I can't imagine them sourcing C classes from two continents; that would be terribly inefficent.

They've been fine with handling worldwide ML demand down there from inception.

ddarko

Not sure if you're saying you think Alabama will supply the entire world with C-Class or that the American demand will be met solely by Alabama but along with Tuscaloosa, Mercedes is assembling the W205 in Bremen/Germany, South Africa and China. The Alabama plant hasn't even started C-Class production yet, it's just entered trial production runs this week according to local Alabama reporting:

Mercedes is building the W205 in Bremen right now since the W205 starts delivery to buyers in Germany in March.

In any case, I still hold out hope W205 European delivery will remain an option for North American buyers, even if it's not the most efficient thing for Mercedes to do. Hopefully Mercedes headquarters thinks the goodwill the program creates is worth the extra effort.

tommy

Sorry, meant that AL would fill US demand. Due to the differences in the US from the European version, that goodwill would have to be unrealistically high, imho, but you never know.

Glyn M Ruck

If the US wants to continue relatively low W205 pricing it makes no sense to ship cars in. The US cars are a pain to build unless in large quantity because they meet different specifications & are built down to a sticker price.

The J-Man

I really want to buy this car, but ED is a must for me. I hope it is available.

Considering the Alabama plant hasn't been dramatically expanded, I would be surprised if it can fulfill full US demand for this car. BMW supplies the US with 3-series cars from both Munich and South Africa. It's not uncommon to have cars coming into the same market from two different plants/continents.

Perhaps the US plant will produce all 4matic cars, and RWD versions and coupes will come from Germany?

The J-Man

I really don't think manufacturers could care less about shipping cars around the globe. The process is so streamlined, it doesn't even enter the decision making process. MB has a factory in the US not for shipping considerations, but for currency hedging.

Also, I don't believe US cars are "built down," and the sophistication of the factories nowadays makes changing specifications between each car that comes off the line a non-event.

MBNUT1

I'm guessing that there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that ED is going to happen for US W205. I wish it would but it isn't going to happen.

edgalang

Interesting...isn't this a direct contradiction to an earlier thread where you stated that factory specs is factory specs regardless of where it was created?

alsyli

Actually, changing specifications for a *single* car is considered a very big deal. I had contacted MB USA a few yrs ago about getting an E-class (back when I was looking at that model) that had an options package only available outside the US. MB USA got back to simply say that it would be "very expensive" and gave no specifics. A poster (who I think works for MB Canada) commented that this was an accurate response b/c pulling a single car off the production line to add options is, in essence, a custom-built car, even if those options are already available elsewhere for that specific model.

MJ50

i doubt there will ED available since they have plant in US... just doesn't make sense...
now, the big question is the build quality...

ddarko

Only if we assume that Alabama can fully supply the USA/North America market on its own. Has Mercedes said Alabama will be the sole source of W205 C-Class for the USA? I think what they've said is that Tuscaloosa will start making USA W205 C-Class this year but I've not read anything where they've said it would be the only place to make US-spec W205. I could be wrong though.

I think Mercedes' ultimate goal is to produce everything for the USA in the USA to hedge against currency fluctuations. But does Tuscaloosa has the capacity to supply the USA by itself? According to news reports, Mercedes sold 88,000 C-Class vehicles in the USA last year. Daimler's website says that the Alabama plant produced 180,000 vehicles in 2012. Assuming 2013 production was about the same, Tuscaloosa would have to increase its production by 50% to produce all US-spec C-Class. By way of comparison, the Bremen plant turned out almost 317,000 vehicles in 2012. I'm no auto expert but it sounds like a lot to ask Tuscaloosa to go from 180 to 270,000+ cars by the end of 2015. I think The J-Man's intuition above may be right and some W205 C-Class will continue to come from Europe after production starts in Tuscaloosa and ED might continue. Fingers crossed.

P.S. On the other hand, if Mercedes was still going to ship W205 to the USA from Europe, then why not have RWD option at launch? RWD is the standard config in Europe so they could send over RWD cars made in Bremen. Maybe the delay in RWD availability is a clue that Mercedes does intend to produce all North American C-Class in Alabama. This is all armchair speculation...

Glyn M Ruck

You misconstrue my comments. US bound cars "building down" is one of omission to achieve a price point rather than quality. You get the cars very cheaply & they are trimmed of features to achieve that. Some of it deep under the skin & some very obvious.

e.g. A South African car for local consumption will have a brake wear sensor on every wheel. The same car built in the same factory for the US market will have one wear sensor on the LHS front wheel etc.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes ~ South Africa has had the W204 contract for the US with top up from Bremen & Sindelfingen. This will switch to China top up now that Tuscaloosa takes over. Benz will try & build every W205 they possibly can in Tuscaloosa for economies of scale etc. However, if top up is required it makes more sense from a plant like East London where labour cost is much lower than Germany.

It is more than likely that the Coupe will come from Germany.

Every sane manufacturer in the world wants to reduce plant complexity to maximise profit.

NumberSix

Any word on factory (Alabama) delivery?

M12Power

So, it appears that US-spec W205 is eligible for ED according to MBUSA.com. Is this an oversight on their part? Has anyone talked to their dealerships about doing ED? If ED is indeed available, does that mean the car is built in Germany then?

Sxillc400

I just ordered a C400 in the US and it will be built in Germany so I am assuming that EDP would be available if I wanted to (didn't specifically inquire about it).